Is this caused by actively cutting off the tail of a young betta with a knife? Or is it caused by a glitch in DNA not forming the tail in the first place? If it is a genetic problem, then my previous comment is a bit off. I thought the breeder was physically cutting tails off of young fish that were born with healthy tails.

Okay, some quick biology.
1. A mutation was found and the mutated strain was bred over and over until the deformity was established.
2. The fish was cut and shaped during development and it cannot be bred into new generations.

I'd say it's more than likely #1. The fin wraps around cleanly with no scars or anything (if fish get scars). I'd expect it to look more damaged if it was cut up ...

recently, i found a betta similar to this one on Aquabid. she had no visible tail(to me. after posting it on FB, someone said she HAD a tail, it was just really tiny and almost fused with her anal)....

i say it's a birth defect. he should have been culled the moment the breeder saw it. all his organs are smooshed, and as i said, he couldn't have lasted very long. :<

Okay, some quick biology.
1. A mutation was found and the mutated strain was bred over and over until the deformity was established.
2. The fish was cut and shaped during development and it cannot be bred into new generations.

I'd say it's more than likely #1. The fin wraps around cleanly with no scars or anything (if fish get scars). I'd expect it to look more damaged if it was cut up ...

Thanks for the clarification. I still can't figure out why anyone would want to do this. But at least I have a better idea of what they are doing. I personally still see this more as mutilation than breeding for a trait. -_-

and sorry i said mutation! the thread used "mutation" loosely. i did find though that there are some bettas that have no tail but it's because fry siblings ate it. and i think i found one that was born that way.

and my guess is that they probably experimented with how it would look... soo if they actually do cut it off it's probably done in such a way that it looks "nice".

and sorry i said mutation! the thread used "mutation" loosely. i did find though that there are some bettas that have no tail but it's because fry siblings ate it. and i think i found one that was born that way.

and my guess is that they probably experimented with how it would look... soo if they actually do cut it off it's probably done in such a way that it looks "nice".

Ahhhh, ok. Wow ... it's a wonder that fish even got to that size. I don't think it'll last much longer